Box Score ROHNERT PARK, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team notched its first victory of 2013-14 with a hard-fought 82-77 win over Fresno Pacific (1-2) at the 13th annual Ron Logsdon Classic, hosted by Sonoma State.
Jacari Whitfield set a career high with 24 points to lead the Pioneers (1-2).
"Fresno Pacific is an extremely well-coached team with a winning tradition," said
Gus Argenal, who picked up his first career victory as a head coach. "Our team competed well down the stretch and made some great winning plays. I couldn't be happier for our players."
For Whitfield, it was his best shooting game as a Pioneer. He knocked down six three-pointers (also a career high) on nine attempts and shot 63.6 percent from the field overall. The junior was also 4-for-4 from the free throw line and added three rebounds and three assists. Whitfield was red-hot down the stretch as the Pioneers made a late comeback, scoring 19 of his 24 points in the second half.
Gabe Kindred, the reigning CCAA Player of the Week, scored 16 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. The senior guard was just 2-for-9 from the floor, but he had a record-setting night at the charity stripe. Kindred was 11-for-11 on free throws, setting a new Pioneer record for percentage. He surpassed the previous mark, which was held by teammate
Donavon Jackson when he went 10-for-10 in a game back in 2010.
Junior
Nick Grieves was 3-for-6 from behind the arc, reaching double figures for the first time as a Pioneer with 11 points.
Mark Samuels added eight points and a team-high five assists.
The East Bay starting frontcourt of
Darrick McIntosh and
Ryan Hebebrand had its most impactful game so far this season. They each scored six points and grabbed five rebounds, while combining to shoot 50 percent from the field (5-for-10).
Newcomer
Jarred Jourdan notched four points and three boards, and freshman
Kyle Frakes made the most of his 10 minutes of court time with five points and two blocks. Senior
Jerramy King grabbed three rebounds in three minutes off the bench.
Fresno Pacific shot 48.4 percent from the floor, compared to 43.1 percent for Cal State East Bay. However, the Pioneers were on fire from long distance, making 50.0 percent of their threes (13-for-26). They did most of their damage in the second half when they knocked down 8-of-13. Each team committed just nine turnovers in the game.
The Sunbirds led almost the entire first half and stretched their advantage to 11 with just under four minutes left before halftime. But the Pioneers clawed back and cut the deficit to six on a three-pointer by Hebebrand with 13 seconds left. They managed to take some momentum into the recess with the score 35-29 in favor of FPU.
The second half was much higher scoring, and that ended up being a good thing for the Pioneers, who picked up their tempo and started to get hot from outside. Whitfield drilled a three to trim the Sunbirds' lead to one at the 15:40 mark. On East Bay's next possession, he knocked down another triple to give the Pioneers their first lead since it was 5-4.
FPU briefly took the lead back as the teams traded points for the next several minutes. With two minutes remaining, the Pioneers trailed by four, but Kindred was fouled shooting a three and converted all three free throws. After a missed three by FPU on the other end, Whitfield found Frakes in transition for a dunk that put East Bay up one.
The Pioneers never looked back from there. Whitfield and Kindred both hit a pair of free throws to prevent a Sunbird comeback, and CSUEB hung on for the five-point victory.
East Bay is back in action tomorrow night when they play Dominican on the second night of the Ron Logsdon Classic. It'll be a re-match of the 110-106 double-overtime thriller between the two teams last weekend.
